1,204 related texts · Page 7 of 26
He appears in the narrative, offers Moses some crucial advice, and then… well, what do we really know about him? The Book of Exodus tells us, “Yitro heard…” (Exodus 18:1). But hear...
In Jewish tradition, names aren't just labels. They're packed with meaning, hinting at a person's essence, their journey, their very destiny. Take Yitro, Moses' father-in-law. He's...
According to Rabbi Elazar, it's justice. That’s why, as Shemot Rabbah tells us, God gave us laws after the Ten Commandments. If justice is perverted, everything crumbles. God, in h...
It’s a question that takes us to the heart of Jewish thought, and to a fascinating passage in Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. The pas...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. This week, we're diving into a passage from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, specifically Shemot Rab...
It goes all the way back to Mount Sinai, according to the ancient Rabbis. Shir HaShirim Rabbah, the commentary on the Song of Songs, dives into a fascinating interpretation of the ...
Take this one: "His hands are rods of gold set with beryl; his belly is a slab of ivory covered with sapphires." (Song of Songs 5:14). Beautiful imagery, but what does it mean? Wel...
Rabbi Yitzḥak begins with a powerful quote from Jeremiah (15:16): “Your words were revealed, and I consumed them; Your words were gladness for me and the joy of my heart because Yo...
Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai paints a powerful picture of that experience. He teaches that when the Israelites stood at Sinai and proclaimed, "Everything that God said we will perform an...
Rabbi Ḥiyya taught that this specific portion, Kedoshim, was delivered in a grand assembly – "Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel..." (Leviticus 19:2). Why? ...
Central to Judaism is the absolute oneness of God. It’s right there in the Shema, that foundational declaration: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:...
18:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: And so I saw the wicked buried, and they came into their rest; but they that had done right went away from the holy pl...
In the third month (Exod. 19:1). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Have I not written unto thee excellent things (shilshom) of counsels and knowledge (Prov. 22:20...
And God spoke all these words (Exod. 20:1). He spoke them all simultaneously. He causes death and restores life at the same time; He wounds and He heals simultaneously; He answers ...
(Numb. 1:1:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses.” Fortunate are you, Moses!25Numb. R. 1:6; cf. Lev. R. 1:1. Six hundred thousand were present with the priests, the Levites, and the el...
It's a fascinating read, full of details you won't find anywhere else in the Torah. The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis, presents itself as a revelation given to ...
The Book of Jubilees, a fascinating text considered apocryphal by some, offers a peek behind the curtain. It presents itself as a revelation given to Moses on Mount Sinai by angels...
The Book of Jubilees, for those who aren't familiar, is an ancient Jewish text, considered part of the biblical apocrypha or pseudepigrapha – writings that hover around the edges o...
The period of the Judges was an era of divine intervention so direct that storms fought battles and fires executed corrupt leaders. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th...
Here's Moses, destined to lead the Israelites out of slavery, to receive the Torah – the first five books of the Hebrew Bible – at Mount Sinai. Yet, according to tradition, he wasn...
The Jewish tradition is full of incredible stories, but this one, about Moses' ascent, might just take the cake. Imagine this: Moses, our leader, the one who spoke to God on Mount ...
Let's talk about the Golden Calf. We all know the story: Moses is up on Mount Sinai getting the Ten Commandments, and the Israelites, impatient and scared, build a golden idol to w...
That impatience, that void, can lead us down some unexpected paths. The story of the Golden Calf is a prime example. The Israelites, fresh out of Egypt, were camped at the foot of ...
God made a striking declaration to the Israelites at Sinai: "You have seen what I did to Egypt" (Exodus 19:4). The Mekhilta emphasizes that God was not asking the people to accept ...
The Torah states that God descended onto Mount Sinai "before the eyes of all the people" (Exodus 19:11), and the Mekhilta draws a startling conclusion from those words: if even a s...
But still, let his blood be spilled from other limbs (and not through "the sword" [i.e., decapitation])! It is, therefore, written (in respect to eglah arufah [the "heifer of the b...
The Torah, in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), gives us a little geographical detail that hints at a much bigger story about journeys, delays, and maybe even missed opportunities...
It’s a question that's haunted humanity for, well, pretty much ever. And when we look to our sacred texts, sometimes we find the answers are…surprising. Take Moses, for example. We...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 4) transforms the Sinai revelation into something far more vivid than the Hebrew original. Where the Bible says God spoke from the fire, the Tar...
Rabbi Simlai made one of the most ambitious claims in the entire Talmud. He said: 613 commandments were given to Moses at Sinai—365 prohibitions corresponding to the days of the so...
When God gave the Torah at Mount Sinai, the scene was unlike anything the universe had ever witnessed. The entire nation of Israel stood at the base of the mountain, and when the v...
"Listen to Me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am He — I am the first, and I am the last as well" (Isaiah 48:12). God speaks with the full weight of eternity — before everyt...
But when we delve into the rich tapestry of rabbinic tradition, specifically Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of early Jewish interpretations of the Book of Genesis, we find some fasc...
Our tradition wrestles with that very feeling in the story of the Golden Calf. Imagine the scene: Moses is up on Mount Sinai, receiving the Torah, the very blueprint for a just and...
Take Betzalel, for example, the master craftsman of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. We read in (Exodus 31:2), "See, the Lord has called by name Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Ḥur…” But ...
It’s a recurring theme in Jewish thought, this tension between reason and revelation. The Kabbalists, those mystics who plumb the depths of Jewish esotericism, they didn’t hold bac...
(Ibid. 12:27) "Then you shall say that it is a Paschal sacrifice to the L–rd.": R. Yossi Haglili said: The Jews would have deserved to die in Egypt (if not for the merit of the Pas...
When Yithro, the father-in-law of Moses, heard about everything that had happened at the Red Sea, he made a remarkable declaration: "Now I know that greater is the Lord than all th...
(Exodus 17:14) "And the L–rd said to Moses: Write this as a remembrance in the book and place it in the ears of Joshua": The early elders said: So is it with all the generations. T...
(Exodus 18:1) "And Yithro heard": What did he hear that caused him to come (and join Israel)? The war with Amalek, which is juxtaposed with this section. These are the words of R. ...
(Exodus 18:4) "and the name of the second, 'Eliezer,' for (Moses said: 'The G–d of (Elokei) my father was my help (ezri), and He saved me from the 'sword of Pharaoh.'" R. Yehoshua ...
A small textual puzzle in the book of Exodus reveals something important about Moses' family. The verse states (Exodus 18:5): "And Yithro, Moses' father-in-law, and his sons and hi...
(Exodus 19:12) "And you shall 'bound' the people": I might think only at the east of the mountain, (where they were encamped). It is, therefore, written "roundabout." "saying": We ...
The Torah permits the making of cherubim — golden winged figures — atop the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies (Exodus 25:18). These are not merely decorative. They are the ...
[1] "And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, etc." (Exodus 20:1-2) Blessed is the Place, blessed is He, who chose Israel from all His handiwork and acquired ...
“Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and her wretchedness, all her delights that she had from the days of old; with the fall of her people into the hand of the adver...
“The king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written in accordance with everything that Haman had commanded the king’s satraps, and the go...
The Mekhilta methodically eliminates every possible misunderstanding about how the Torah was given at Sinai. Each wrong assumption is raised and then demolished by a specific verse...
